Perspectives

In this edition, Kai looks at how study (and latte) is supporting his working day.

Presenting in front of the team was a great experience to build my confidence. I have to admit, the flat white (with coconut milk) I gulped down prior to presenting helped me focus.

Actually, Coffee with Kai has been branching out recently as I tried a cappuccino for the first time. I have got to say, nothing beats a flat white. The difference with a cappuccino is that it has a third coffee, a third milk, and a third foam. A bit too foamy for my liking though I still enjoyed it.

Second year of university began back in mid-September with the advanced programming module.

My initial thoughts were this was a big step up from last year, however with programming it always looks daunting until you break it down into parts.

The course material involved creating “classes” which is essentially like blocks of code, meaning we could start coding with any part we liked then link the classes together at the end.

An example of classes is the Uber app. There are different types of cars, drivers and these would be different classes.

We also learned how to take information from a website and create visualisations and feed back different types of information which I thought was a cool thing to be able to do.

The assessment was split into two parts: one was a coding assessment and the other a recorded presentation.

The coding part of the assessment took up the majority of my allocated time for the assessment as it was difficult, but I am pleased with how I did.

The recorded presentation was the easier of the two, on software documentation and quality assurance. I talked about external softwares we use within the risk department and also about the potential for an internal software. Something to look out for…

Back at work (where I spend most of my time as a graduate apprentice), I’ve recently been involved in a thorough review.

This is a risk assessment and helps identify potential hazards, assess risks and ensure compliance with safety regulations and standards.

Within the UK, a thorough review is required within five years - at the latest - of when the safety case was accepted, or since the last review or when directed by the UK Offshore Safety Directive Regulator (OMAR).

This was the fourth or fifth thorough review I have been involved in and my understanding of the safety case and the layout has improved a lot compared to the first one. I would say it is one of the harder jobs I do. Understanding the safety case and making sure it is compliant to the HSE regulations can be difficult. This is why having the risk guru Neil Smeaton sitting next to me is extremely useful to ask questions when I am stuck!

Another project I was involved in was emergency response planning. This was a piece of work I have never done before but was good to be involved in something different and learn new skills and take on new information.

Emergency response plans are comprehensive strategies designed to effectively and efficiently manage and mitigate various types of emergencies and incidents that may occur within an area. My job was to create the plans. This helped me see how the plans are carried out when an incident happens and also the processes involved.

Outside work and study, football is going well. I feel like I am getting back to my best before I took a break from football back in late 2021.

Consistency with the gym is extremely important to me to reach my goals. It is a lot more difficult with the dark mornings and nights to find motivation but to me it’s not motivation that keeps makes me go to the gym it’s the dedication. Although having the gym within the office at Neospace also gives me a reason to never skip a session.